‘Itan’, a generational warfare in one play
It’s not always that a play is staged to honour and celebrate an individual. But this was the case yesterday at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua Centre, Abuja. To celebrate the 61st birthday of Engineer Adeolu Odusote, husband to Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Digital Peers International, in collaboration with the Thespian Family Theatre staged a play. Titled ‘Itan…the story’, it was featured for the first time in Abuja and would be staged again tomorrow, July 15, at the same venue. ‘Itan…the story’ tells the tale of a battle between generations, the past and the present, through an old man’s eyes. This points a finger at the conflict in real life, of a clash of cultures and conflict between the present and the past. Which remains supreme? Should the past sleep and the let the present take over? Or should the present learn from its past?
Colourful and full of life, the play depicted a failing society, where morals and lessons of the past are thrown to the wind. But the two can learn from each other, the divine being in the drama says.
Through the experience of an old man seeking his grandson in the city, the story takes its audience into the heart of modernity, with its sophistication and vibrancy. Perhaps the past could also take a thing or two from the present? Only if it could. There’s nothing about history that is useless, the story seems to imply. There’s so much the present generation can offer to a society’s development, likewise the old.
If you love music and dance, ‘Itan…the story’ is full of both, and there’s never a dull moment as action after action takes you along with Baba (the old man) to the heart of today’s modern world. But would it budge, just a little, and undo some of those attributes that could cause permanent ruin?
It’s remarkable that theatre is becoming an important part of Abuja. This is what the host, Mrs. Odusote intends to encourage, and it is indeed remarkable.
The occasion was graced by important dignitaries, such as the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, represented by Deaconess Grace Gekpe, Permanent Secretary of the ministry, as well as other Permanent Secretaries and heads of organisations.